The 100 Tales of MK
by Seph
Summary: Newest! Whisper Gently to Me- Just another snapshot of a sweet friendship. -- A collection of tales featuring day and night, dark and light, of the phantom thief. 100 short stories from the world of Magic Kaito, based on the Kid & Kaito 100 theme list.
1. The Second Meeting

**AN:** The first story to my 100 MK themes (not in order). This is one of my more confusing ones... Though I'm pretty proud of it.  
**  
The Second Meeting  
**#40- Double  
Words: 500

Kaitou Kid glanced up from where he sat swaying on the faded piece of colored wood.

The visage of a little girl tugging eagerly on an older man's arm was there, one tiny hand playing with a nest of brown that was her hair. She looked a world's contrast to the mustached man she was attached to, like the princess who held a treasure trove of seashells compared to the unimaginative cynic.

There was a searching aspect to her excitement as she glanced around the playground equipment. Her gaze passed through most of them without a second look back, trying to find what only she recognized. However, when they turned towards the suspended pieces of painted boards, those bright blue eyes twinkled and her fidgeting hand stretched to point a finger in the same direction as where he sat. 

"Papa, papa, he's the one. The boy on the swings. He's the one who gave me the nice flower."

Said flower's stem was clutched possessively in the small hand linked to the father's arm, but little girls had such ways with fragile items. In a depressing manner the bloom was crushed like a crumpled origami project. 

The kaitou smiled affectionately in remembrance of the beauty. 

Together the pair approached the equipment upon which he currently sat swinging alone. The father's expression was that of a stern man, a protective keeper wary of a stranger's contact with his daughter. As the girl must have revealed to her papa, the flower was given to her by an odd young man who magicked it out from nowhere.

At least her appearance was a merry one, changed from the dejected individual who that gift had been first given to. 

A delicate blossom appeared between the crevices of Kid's gloved fingers. Silently disengaging other deft digits from the chain holding up his seat, he cupped them carefully over the red petals. His white hands protected the flower from the winds gently rocking his perch.

The two stopped before the swing sets. "My daughter told me you gave her the rose," the father prompted guardedly. A strong suspicion of all magicians was brandished like a sword in those narrowed eyes.

"Yup!" An exclamation made in a voice as young as the girl's emerged to fill the father's ears. Cheerful and direct, the innocence was a shield against that sword. Unintentionally, it also revealed to the man what a silly notion it was to harbor doubt against it.

The stern expression of the father hesitantly melted towards a soft smile, and with the smile, a less guarded acceptance. The daughter, still clutching that tattered rose, smiled brightly at her new found friend. "Aoko mentioned your name was Kaito?"

The thief stood up from the swinging board and allowed the rose to fall on the seat he just vacated. It was time to go. The phantom of his memory was still echoing _Hai, keibu-san..._ before the last one of them faded away, leaving him alone in the deserted playground.


	2. Roasted Marshmallows

**AN:** Inspired about certain talks of chocolate cakes and marshmallows and kaitous falling from the roof. Hope it is liked.

**Roasted Marshmallows  
**#15- The one who was given everything  
Word Count: 1018  
Dedicated to Ten-chan: The original baker of the chocolate cake.

Cake, everyone loves cake. They're sweet, soft, tender in the center and a little crunchy on the surface if baked just right. In the right stores, made by the perfect master, a piece could sell for a whole week's salary, and people would still buy them too.

There was one of those stores just around the corner of Ekoda High, and Kaito would walk past it every day when he walked home. Every so often he would stop by its wall sized windows and stare at the rows of specialty pieces with their plastic ribbon wrapping and little chocolate flakes on top. Anyone suggesting he even paid them half a mind would get an earful of vehement denial, but Aoko had seen him at it more than once. And Aoko knew, from a best- friend- growing- up- together point of view, that Kaito indeed loved cake.

It would be Kaito's 18th birthday tomorrow, and in a showoff sense of generosity, he had invited his whole class to celebrate the occasion. The invitations were sent out last week, but the day before and Aoko still haven't figured out a suitable gift to get him. When even Keiko declared she found the latest Kaitou Kid item she knew Kuroba-kun would like, her situation was desperate.

Which was why, in a moment of inspiration, she came to the conclusion that she could make a cake for his birthday party next weekend. It was perfect, she thought, and this way she could save money on his present too.

Yes, it was decided, she would make him his birthday cake.

------

"Let's see... Kaito really likes chocolate..." Aoko murmured while walking down the aisle of baking goodies. Little packages, in all the colors of the rainbow and then some, sat neatly in ordered rows. _Pick me!_ their vivid cellophane shouted while window opportunities offered to show their wares inside.

Aoko took up a packet of suspicious green chips labeled specialty chocolate. "He would deserve it for making my bag smell like pigeon poop," she mused as she glanced the packaging over. Most of it was covered by the brightly bolded lettering on the wrap. After seeing the gaudy border of dancing cartoon limes around, she wasn't too sorry to drop it back on the shelf. As much as she wanted revenge, even she couldn't stomach a molten chocolate cake looking neon green with the advertised 'lime explosion' flavors.

A pack of ground chocolate powder would do nicely, and she threw one to join the butter in her basket. She had the flour, eggs, and sugar at home. Good, she had everything.

------

"Aaiiii!"

In a series of quick action that would have made even Kaito proud, Aoko wrenched out the cake, slammed closed the oven door, threw the cake down on the nearest heat mat, and turned on the cold water to as icy as she could get it. The water was a chilling balm to the hot burn on her arm and she could only watch sullenly as the redness receded under its blast.

That idiot Kaito, stupid KaitoShe glared at the cake while imagining the chocolate swirls were the boy's brown hair. She then imagined how satisfying it would be to smash her broom into those grinning swirls. Why did he have to like cake of all things?

Aoko stared at the food item until she started seeing an irritating grin in those swirls and it was and thought that she better stop. If she continued her current train of thought, the item would be a flattened piece of dessert before she got it to Kaito's party. Wouldn't it just be the thing, to introduce the molten chocolate cake as the "Melted Chocolate cake."

Why couldn't Kaito have been drooling over boxes of Pocky or something.

The small thin cookie sticks would be hard to make though, but it would be fun to dip them into chocolate... She shook her head to clear that thought. What was she thinking? No one could _make Pocky_.

At least her burn was feeling better now. Or numb, as the lack of feelings in her fingers told her.

It was time to decorate it.

------

The cake she carried to Kaito's house the afternoon of the 21st was carefully wrapped in a white box tied with blue ribbons. It was placed amongst all the other presents although Aoko took care to make sure it was placed both neatly and upwards.

Everyone showed up, even Hakuba-kun although he had to be dragged to participate in most of the party games. The party proceeded at a full blast and it was late evening when the presents opening ceremony came about.

Kaito had sped through most of the gifts, receiving things from magic books to baseball caps despite he hadn't worn a single one since entering high school. Aoko couldn't understand why anyone would give him even more playing cards either when it was obvious he had several decks up his sleeves.

However, the birthday boy didn't seem to think so and placed the cap on his head backwards the way he used to in grade school and performed another impromptu show for his audience with his new cards and apparatus. When that was all over, it would seem as if only Aoko's present was left unwrapped.

A feeling apprehension filled her as she watched him take up that present. She blamed the wasabi swallowed earlier for the feeling of butterflies in her stomach. If Kaito had grinned at the strangest presents, even Hakuba's pair of handcuffs, she saw no reason why this would be different.

Until the grin actually fell off Kaito's mouth.

"Strange combination," Akako-chan commented.

"And it's lopsided," another's voice added.

"...I'm sure it doesn't taste bad...?" Keiko tried with a hesitant laugh. But even she was eyeing the revealed box with certain wariness.

Still there was no expression on Kaito's face.

But then slowly, the brightest smile bloomed on his features and a grin which threatened to split his face flashed across it. "Chokoreeto keeki!" Kaito exclaimed.

"How could he tell under all the marshmallows?" Someone was whispering in the background.

While Hakuba-kun winced at the bad English, Aoko could only grin back. She knew Kaito loved chocolate cake... and he liked marshmallows too.

**-Omake-**

Aoko watched with apprehension as Kaito picked up the cake. He looked at it first from the left, then circled around to glance from the right. With a feeling of misgiving, she watched as he held the box up... "No!! Don't shake it!!!"

Hakuba observed the mass of white and brown that was spread all over the box Kaito opened. "Too late," he murmured as he extended a clean handkerchief to the cake covered birthday boy.


	3. When Things Go Wrong

**  
AN: **It's been a while since I posted. No guarantees that the posting frequency will increase from here on, but I do hope people enjoy this story anyway.****

When Things Go Wrong  
# 69- Poof!  
Word Count: 555

He was very good at what he did. As the son of the world's once greatest magician, he obviously knew his tricks. Simple illusions, fancy card plays, he took to it all like a duck to water.

Never mind that his departed father had been dead for nearly a whole decade and that he had been too young than to learn anything more than the poker face from him (and badly too). Never mind that his old man left behind nothing else besides a magician's notebook (indecipherable) in a room full of strange gimmicks (and don't forget several old suits and even more top hats!).

However, it might explain why sometimes, on the stranger days when the moon was obscured by pink clouds of smoke, his tricks refused to work out as planned.

"Kaitou Kid!"

Kid threw both gloved hands over his mouth as a raging Hakuba raced towards him. It didn't work. Bubbling laughter spilled past his palms until they turned into huge, unrepentant guffaws.

It wasn't his fault; Hakuba covered in bright _pink_ _glitter_ was too funny to not spend a few chuckles on.

Okay, perhaps it _was_ his fault, but he couldn't have expected his new batch of smoke formula would crystallize together when thrown. He had a feeling that that stuff might be permanent too; who knew with chemical reactions? Thankfully, his own white outfit escaped unscathed.

"Stop laughing!!! I'm arresting you!"

He couldn't stop it, there were tears coming out behind his monocled eyes. The English detective wasn't helping his own situation any by turning red beneath the bright pink either. Now Hakuba looked like a huge candy marshmallow sold on Valentine's day and the guy was getting redder by the second. Oh, look, some white for the color theme was added where Hakuba's knuckles are balled tightly.

Kid decided he better leave before the headlines tomorrow read _'Kaitou Kid Caught Laughing by the Pink Panther!'_

"Well, it was an... interesting-" chuckle "-evening with you, tantei-san," _Highlighting is more like it. Highlighting with a bright pink highlighter, _"but I'm afraid I must be on my way. Good night to you and thank you for the night's entertainment." He bowed elegantly where he stood on the rooftop generator and straightened with his hang glider unfolding on his back. Still, he couldn't help himself when he added as a parting message, "Good luck, tantei-san, and thiink pink!" With a laugh, the wind gave him a slight push and he took to the night.

Kid thought he had recovered properly by the time he flew over the roof of the adjacent building, but burst out into laughter again when he heard a loud angry wail, "How do I get this stuff _off_ ?!"

Until tonight, he never would have thought that pink went well with the detective.

Next day in school

No one dared to say anything, fearing the death glare that was on the detective's face. They stared nonetheless, and there were hushes of complete silence whenever Hakuba walked past. Even the teachers gaped at their star student at the beginning of every class.

Everyone knew it was Kaitou Kid responsible though, and would whisper out rumors behind the detective's back.

However, only Kaito's words bore any truth when he said to himself, "Wow, it really did react."

The detective who just left the classroom was no longer the Pink Panther, he now looked like Barney the Dinosaur.


	4. Sometimes

**AN:** I've been away from the fandom and I'm back again. Who knows when I'll move away once more? But that's okay. There are still other Kid fans out there besides me after all. !O****

Sometimes

#76- The Truth

Word Count: 1016

Sometimes things happened.

"Sir! It's five minutes after appointed time!" A young officer of the task force reported with a sharp salute. Three dozen pairs of eyes shifted to where the emerald necklace still laid, undisturbed and unmoved within the display case. No one had approached it, there wasn't even a power out attempt to reach it.

It was then that it finally sank in for Nakamori keibu, Kaitou Kid was a no show for this heist. Five minutes was too much for even time discrepancy.

"We beat him!" A cheer erupted throughout the hall following that foolish announcement. This was the first time in their history that a piece was protected without even an attempt. The celebration was canned by an angry shout from the inspector, "FOOLS! Be on alert! He may just be late!"

But an hour later, they all decided that Kid really wasn't going to appear. The necklace was safeguarded, nothing was stolen, and when Nakamori announced it was time to go, there was a round of habitual rooting. However, this time it wasn't heartfelt like all those past times, and none of the task force believed they gained a victory. In fact, Nakamori was probably not the only one to wonder what happened.

Or sometimes things went wrong.

The breezes of mid autumn blew soft and gentle across the keibu's face as he trudged on home. As if to follow his series of bad luck, his car broke down and his nearest colleague could only drop him off two blocks from his home. So the tired inspector resorted to a fatigued tread homewards.

The rest of the task force were likely seeking their individual beds by now. It was, after all, the wrong side of midnight already and the night did not get any younger. And to imagine that the notice had specified for 10:47 PM. 

A playful rustling of leaves yellowed by streetlight reminded him of the empty feeling tonight. The steady northeastern winds would have made the perfect hang gliding weather too had Kid but shown, and it still made no sense that the thief hadn't. Kid not showing up for an announced heist was equivalent to sashimi being served cooked, it just didn't happen.

Three houses down and in sight of his own, he saw that Aoko's bedroom window was opened. Her lights were on. In the background was the silhouette of the girl, and on that window sill sat a white top hat. That was when he realized, something was very wrong.

Then sometimes things exploded.

"AOKO!!!"

When he barged into her room, the scene was not what he had expected. As expected, Kaitou Kid was there with Aoko although the inspector was hard pressed to say whether it was better or worse than he thought. His daughter was safe from Kid, which he now realized was always the case, even despite how hard his daughter was crying. 

"Dad!" Two pairs of bright blue eyes turned to his enraged figure. His daughter's, reddened and puffy from tears, filled up with apprehensive surprise as she watched him. As to the other pair, there wasn't even a monocle to hide them as they looked back in resignation.

"Hi, Nakamori keibu," the figure in white first broke the silence from where he was sprawled on Aoko's bed.

Part of Kid's face was bandaged, but at this close proximity and without the monocle and top hat, no amount of bandages could hide that identity.

This was, without doubt, Kuroba Kaito, the boy Aoko grew up with. Nakamori had trusted this boy too, and even foolishly included the boy into his plans with hopes to pit a magician against magic thief. Now he was about to apprehend his daughter's best friend. He felt something burn inside him. 

Yet sometimes things cooled down.

Aoko was a solid wall between him and the bed. Their shouts were loud enough to shake the room.

"Dad, you can't arrest Kaito! I won't let you!"

"He's Kaitou Kid! You know I've been chasing him for years! It's my job arrest him!"

He tried to get past his daughter to the figure on the bed, but protective hands pulled him back as soon he was near. When had his little girl gotten so strong? "Dad, I can't let you take him! Kaito's injured!" 

It was only after Aoko pointed it out that he noticed that Kaitou Kid really was wounded, and not just a few bandages here and there. There was a copious amount of blood which soaked the boy's clothing, and even more bandages were swathed around his figure. Kid's silk suit was no longer in its pristine condition with those huge blotches of rusty maroon covering its sides.

Oh yes, that was why Kid never made the heist, the thief was busy dying on his daughter's bed.

"Aoko... it's alright. I expected this when-" The rage within the inspector died a little when he heard the soft voice interrupted by weak coughs. "-I came here."

That didn't sound like Kaitou Kid. Despite the same voice, despite the stained white suit, the cut away blue shirt, and the red tie dangling awkwardly, the monocle and top hat were off; this was Kuroba Kaito speaking.

"And why did you come here?"

As if sensing the change in him, his daughter released his arm so he could slowly approach the bed. Internally, Nakamori reviewed what he knew of Kaitou Kid, and he came to the truth that he refused to realize all along. This boy was obviously not the same man he had been chasing eight years ago. The first Kaitou Kid was gone, and this new substitute, although more annoying and more active than his predecessor, had not committed anything that was seriously offending. This one was a mischievous trickster more than a real criminal. 

Someone had tried killing this trickster.

"Just what happened out there tonight?"

Kaito looked hesitant, but as if coming to a decision, he told his story. 

Perhaps the inspector was not exactly calm, but his anger faded enough for him to listen. He would reason with them too, for Aoko's and Kaito's sake. He always had liked the boy, perhaps even when he was Kid.

And sometimes, just sometimes, things turn out alright.


	5. Stage Magic

**AN:** This is why I should not be writing when brain dead and giddy from a night of only 2 hours of sleep. I end up asking people, "What's the word that starts with AP and means partner in crime?" (Accomplice- I was thinking apprentice. sweatdrops) But I suppose I like it for the angst value, so perhaps I should do my writing in these horrid conditions.

**AN2:** A curious question... Do people merely read stories/chapters without leaving reviews, or do the reviews reflect the story's true quality? I'm sure all writers who look at their stats wonder the same thing, the mismatch between hits and review numbers. Hmmm.

**Stage Magic  
**#00- It's Show Time  
Word Count: 318

Loss is an acute thing everyone experiences at least once in their life. More than once for most, sometimes over and over again. It is not necessarily the person at fault who feels it, and it could hit anyone, at any time. May it be a death, or losing a treasured item, or even the passing of a faded opportunity, the mourning is still the same, the pain is still there.

But not many could still face the world with a smile, even if it was a fake expression frozen to a face painted over by tears. Few would have the poker face to greet the masses with an upward curve on their lips if just to hide the sorrow deep within. Less still would trust the world so little either, or conceal so much of themselves that they would continue their daily routine rather than make public their grief, to move onwards into the whirlwind rather than to pause and suffer the loss.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Prepared to be amazed by the great magician, especially invited from Japan, Kuroba Kaito!!!"

The introduction came, the buzz was in the air. A deafening applause suffused with enthusiasm flooded the auditorium. They were eager to watch, impatient of delays, waiting for this real live wizard scheduled to entertain everybody. No one cared about the phantom which performed for them last night on the balconies of the British Museum, few even talked about his old accomplice getting killed during arrest.

The velvet curtains rose and the white magician stepped forward. He smiled and waved up to the people hidden by the white light. Per routine, doves materialized out of puffs of smoke and cards flew out in shapes and structures for an audience he couldn't see. What he felt didn't matter; the world didn't care about what he knew. And they must never, ever know what he thought.

The show must go on.


	6. Pristine White

**AN (old):** Inspired by the true events that happened while I was cosplaying as Kaitou Kid at an anime convention. All of the below which happened to the thief's poor clothes happened to mine as well although the reasons were slightly different from his. Still, that was when I swore off cosplaying anyone in white ever again. Funny why I already have plans for Kaitou Kid making a comeback at my anime convention this year. Oh, "Kaidiot" is the best translation I could come up with for the manga's "Bakaito" that Aoko calls him. It won't be making an appearance here, but "Aodork" is the closest for "Doaoko", which my friend Ten thought up with me.

**AN2 (new):** Dug this story up from my archives (guess I have a few unposted ones after all...) and decide to get some of them out while I still remember too. Sadly, this misses Kaito's birthday by less than an hour. I knew I should've started searching last night!

------

**Pristine White  
**#07- White

Word Count: 2095

He wouldn't have done it if he wasn't following family traditions. Sure it looked good, and more than dazzled his usually cheering audience below. It even reflected light in the night sky like a shining beacon for their flying wonders, which frankly boosted his performance ego very well. However, a white suit really was the most _troublesome_ thing to handle when one had to stay presentable _up close_ throughout the day.

It began when there was going to be a costumed ball held in the grand ballroom of the Imperial hotel in Choyida. Started by the Suzuki family for a Halloween celebration, it was an occasion by invitation only. The family, friends, coworkers, company staff, and business associates were the main invitees of the festivity.

Although that didn't prevent Kaitou Kid from receiving one.

As soon as the Suzuki family received the notice for their treasured Carnelian Diamond, the first person they notified this time was the police. As always, the Kaitou Kid notices circulated through the department and quickly fell into the hands of one Nakamori-keibu. This eventually became an event where his whole family was invited, and, by way of contact, his daughter's close classmate, Kuroba Kaito, was invited as well. After all, if this was going to be a costumed ball, the daughter would need someone to dance with.

But soon Kaito found out that getting in, finding the diamond, and even scheming up an ingenious way to steal it was only half the job done. The other half had nothing to do with security, Nakamori, or the diamond at all. It didn't even have anything to do with the fact that he would be stuck with Aoko the whole time. Living through the night in one clean piece was the truly challenging war zone.

Kaito had arrived with Aoko several minutes before the reception truly began, having been admitted with Nakamori-keibu as part of the Kid task force. The Suzuki family was toleratingly amused when they discovered that the young man the police officer brought along was disguised as Kaitou Kid himself. It had caused quite a commotion when Kaito walked into the ball room. If the keibu hadn't vouchsafed for him several times, as well as Aoko handcuffing herself to him, he may never have been admitted in. Still, Kaito wasn't one to express many complaints when the handcuffs placed on him linked him to police woman Nakamori Aoko. Her skirt was really short too.

------

First half hour of the ball...

It was still within the one hour reception period. The ball was still setting up, and where the table would normally be filled with the rich buffet dinner, it was currently occupied with only small hors d'œuvres and several different types of coffees and teas. The large ballroom was sparse with the arrived guests, which were at the most only half the invited amount of individuals.

"Kaidiot," Aoko muttered in a hushed whisper as she pushed Kaito away from the fancily carved decorations adorning the edges of the buffet table. Before the manhandled teenager could protest to the insult, she spoke up again, "There's a stain on your suit."

"Eh!?" True enough, a glance downwards revealed a small blotch of ugly brown on the left lapel of his suit jacket. It stood out starkly against the pristine white of the rest of his outfit like... well, like he really splashed the brown liquid all over himself. Except he knew he hadn't, or thought he was certain. He had been very careful while drinking that hot chocolate from shortly after their arrival.

Earlier insult forgotten, Kaito held back several creative curses as he allowed himself to be steered in the direction of the bathroom.

But a new complication arose when Aoko refused to follow him into the men's bathroom. "Come on, Aoko, I need to wash this out..." He raised his left hand with a cluttered clang. "And we're stuck together."

"I'm not going in there with you!" Aoko's scream was nearly enough to blast Kaito's monocle off. At the very least, several people turned to stare at the red faced lady officer cuffed to the Kaitou Kid imitation.

He instantly threw his gloved hands over Aoko's mouth. "Shhh!" he hissed back in reply. "Alright, alright, I'll go in the women's washroom with you."

"That's better."

Kaito groaned.

------

Part way into the ball...

Finally no longer handcuffed after the incident incident, Kaito was seated alone at their assigned table. The dinner items were just laid out in the buffet area, and since there were huge line ups everywhere, he stayed behind to watch Aoko's purse while she offered to get them both some foodstuff. He didn't mind the arrangement either after he made a clear distinction that he desired no seafood.

While he waited, several of his table mates struck up conversations with him. There was a pair dressed as a vampire princess and her vampire prince and another pair as the lord and lady of the monolithic era. "How do you keep that monocle on?" the vampire princess was asking as she picked up a piece of tuna sashimi with her chopsticks and pushed the slimy red item into her mouth.

"By magic," Kaito answered quickly and averted his gaze to the monolithic lady beside her. He allowed his table guests to mistake his inward grimace as his peculiar way of laughing with them at his own joke.

"How did you get that charm to look so real?" That was the monolithic lord asking. Kaito switched his gaze again when he found the fish fillet, humorously cut into little _fish_ patterns, sat on the man's plate.

"It's only colored with markers." And it was too. While the real item was a plastic charm piece attached to his father's monocle, this one was merely an imitation he made from malleable foam such that his costume, for most part, wouldn't look _too _real. A fact which he regretted instantly when he found a small spot of dark blue on the right lapel of his suit. Just when his left lapel from the earlier washing had only newly dried.

As soon as Aoko returned several minutes later, Kaito stood from the table. "Where are you going?" she asked as he walked past her towards the bathrooms again.

"I have to wash a stain out."

"What, again? Why did you have to choose Kaitou Kid anyway?"

Several minutes later, Kaito returned from the washroom with his suit jacket wet but clean. Finally, he could rejoin Aoko.

Yet, as soon as he took a seat at the table again, Aoko dropped her fork and pointed to him, or rather, his jacket. He had used a mixture of permanent and washable markers for that fake charm, such that whatever had gotten on his jacket was thankfully also washable with simple soap. Unfortunately, it was not water proof and his charm was currently leaning right over the wet spot.

"I guess this means you have to wash your jacket again?"

Wordlessly, Kaito lifted the charm from his shirt to see the inverse imprint of his lucky four leaf clover marked clearly on the jacket's right lapel.

"Kaidiot."

------

A little past half way through the ball...

The fire alarm went off. It happened all of a sudden, and despite how everyone were offended by the disruption, they were still ushered outside of the building for safety reasons. The police remained, however, carefully watching and with their eyes on everyone because this may possibly be a ploy of the thief's to steal the Carnelian Diamond.

From where Kaito was trapped with Aoko in the flow of people flooding through the halls, he blinked. This was definitely not one of _his_ ploys to steal the large gem. Because causing such chaos, while he was stuck smack right in the middle of it, was pure lunacy. Regrettably he was neither in the position nor the mood to inform Nakamori-keibu so they could eliminate the searches.

Being under the confidence of the officer in charge placed them through quickly to the parking lot, but it didn't lessen the wait any. People in costumes began returning to their cars or nearby areas for seating. If many of their items weren't still inside the hotel, for whatever reason, Kaito had no doubt that many of them would have left completely too.

"Do you think Kid really will show up?" Aoko asked as she took her seat beside him on the concrete ledge surrounding the outdoor parking. Considering that there were no cream colored Porsche or shining red Benz to be their temporary seats, they had to make do with this. Not that either of them minded.

"Sure," Kaito replied off handedly. His monocle was off for the moment and he blew a fog on it to clean with the hem of his shirt. "He never missed an appointment so far." Holding up the monocle to the light, he inspected it for marks and frowned when he found there was still a fingerprint on it.

"I know, but still.... Kaito!!!"

Surprised by the sudden change in Aoko's tone, Kaito glanced up in panic. "What? What?" That was when Aoko was pointing at his feet, or rather, something beneath his feet. He was stepping on his own cape.

Kaito moaned in dismay as he brought the white piece of fabric up and saw his own dark footprints marked clearly on one side, and the back side smudged to a dirty gray black from the ground. "Do you think I'll have time to wash this out before they declare the area safe to go back in?"

"There's a washroom nearby here, let's go take a look." Heartened by Aoko's helpful tone, he left with her to wash that cape. Unhappily, fifteen minutes after they were done, the wet thing somehow dragged upon the ground again and came back blacker than before. This time, Kaito didn't bother hiding his curses as Aoko laughed at him.

He really was beginning to wish he had pulled that fire alarm after all.

------

In the last half hour of the ball...

While Kaito had remained standing up for the rest of the time to dry his cape in the wind, Aoko was seated in front of him and laughing. Eventually fire alarm was declared a false alarm, he could have told them that, and everyone was allowed back in. In the short period after their return, the buffet area was cleared away and desserts, including several large chocolate fountains were placed as center pieces for massive platters of fruits. The party resumed, and in an hour, everyone was in much better spirits again.

"They have melted chocolate!" A joyous Aoko exclaimed as she gleefully dipped several strawberries into the sweet brown flow.

"It's called a chocolate fountain," he answered matter of factly with a shrug.

"Well, it's still exciting!" She answered, pouting, while she carefully washed her other pieces.

Kaito watched from behind her in line as a piece fell off her fork. Embarrassed, Aoko quickly found a new fork and fished it back out. Chocolate dripped dangerously everywhere as the drenched item was flopped onto her plate. Then Kaito's turn came and he threw all his pieces directly into the fountain sans utensils.

Aoko's eyes widened in an expression of aghast horror. "What are you doing?!"

To which, he merely answered with a cheeky grin. "Soaking them." He showed her when he retrieved them that, unlike Aoko's which were unevenly covered with the unsteady fountain flow, his were all uniformly covered in the sweet liquid cocoa.

Aoko frowned from beside him. "It's impolite," she muttered with the tone of barely concealed jealousy. Kaito only smirked brazenly on their way back to their table.

Too bad, Aoko always had the last laugh, and in this case, she had the loudest when Kaito discovered he had rested his whole right sleeve onto the edge of his plate of chocolate. In fact, she was cheerfully waved him off.

"I'll eat your soaked strawberries while you wash that soaked sleeve!"

Kaito sighed. Did concentrated chocolate even wash out?

------

In the end...

_Kaitou Kid strikes again! The Carnelian Diamond belongong to Tomoko Suzuki was stolen last night at the annual Halloween ball held by the Suzuki Corporation. The only suspect, a teenager costumed as Kaitou Kid, was freed from suspicion due to the heavy stains acquired on his costume throughout the party. "Kid was wearing a pristine white suit," Nakamori Ginzo, the inspector responsible for this investigation, said. The Carnelian Diamond was later recovered drenched in one of the 5 chocolate fountains present in the ballroom..._

Kaito grinned as he read over the newspaper article. Intelligently, he had prepared a spare change of clothing ahead of time and asked Jii to wash that sleeve while he did his heist. Who knew stains could become his alibi?


	7. Death Comes to Us All

**AN:** I wrote this one at 1 AM in the emergency ward of a hospital, which might contribute to the mood in this piece. This is just a little warm up writing excercise since I haven't wrote a ficlet in at least two years. Any recent updates were just stuff I never posted from the past. This alone is new.

I actually have further ideas regarding this piece, but it works well as a stand alone and I'll leave it as that until the day I feel like taking up a large writing project again. 

**Death Comes to Us All**

#48- Darkness  
Word Count: 417 

1 A.M. Kaito should be asleep already, but he was still too elevated by the night's heist to close his eyes. It was a very successful pull despite how the Ra's Eyes were not the stones he was searching for. Nonetheless, they were a magnificent pair of topaz to behold. Weighing 50-carats each, he still remembered the feel of their cool weight sitting like a pair of golden golf balls in his gloved palm. He almost felt a sense of loss when he left them behind in Nakamori-keibu's car to hang like a pair of crystalline dice on the mirror. 

Reruns of his heist should still be running on various news channels for the wayward few who missed his show. He wanted to turn on the television and watch himself again too, but it was late. Or early, if he considered it was already the next day.

With a sigh, he threw his arms up behind his head and turned onto his back. The empty ceiling above his head stared back at him, its monotone gray broken only by the chill blue moonbeams filtered through the window.

Sometime after 1:30 the adrenaline rush finally dissipated enough for him to begin drifting.

The bomb took his home at 2:05 A.M.

------

There was no doubt to the police that Kuroba Kaito and Kuroba Tokio were dead. Two bodies were found in the Kuroba household, charred to a crisp so neither were recognizable. Nothing out of the house remained either. As specialists shifted through the rubble, they discovered what may have been a hidden workroom, but that too was grazed to the ground by the intense flames. Whatever gadgets it housed within, they were no longer identifiable.

The police couldn't figure out why it happened, or what enemies the Kuroba home could have incurred the wrath of to warrant such a violent end. Field experts reported that the incident was planned and deliberate. The bomb was the work of professionals, it said in the reports, built with top grade plastic explosives found in Japan's blackest of markets. 

Speculations of the media hopped from yakuza to jealous rivals of Kuroba Touichi, but the newspapers which reported that theory offered no explaination as to why a rival would be jealous of a magician dead for nearly a decade. Revenge was also ruled out by the police since neither of the remaining Kurobas could possibly have any enemies. In the end, they only labeled it as a bombing gone wrong.

Which suited the ones responsible fine. _Rest in pieces, Kaitou Kid._


	8. Two Kinds of Fatherless

**AN**: If I wasn't so busy.... I'd write more stories rather than just pull out old plunnies that are quickly turning into dust bunnies. I wonder if I can make a resolution to finish the MK100 theme list before 2011. Since I wanted to make a huge story out of one of them... and that I'm writing slower than a snail with a crooked tail, I guess not. Ah wells.

**Two Kinds of Fatherless**  
#43- Crime of Conscience  
Word Count: 675

"He is a _thief!_"

He nimbly ducked under the miniature school bag swung unceremoniously his way, while back paddling two steps to avoid the bag's backlash revenge.

"He's a no good, jewel-stealing, mischief-causing crook!"

Kuroba Kaito nearly winced at the last degrading description Aoko dished out at his alter ego. The kaitou had never denied the fact that he was a thief. In fact, he openly flaunted his profession in the face of the world, but he would like to think that he had proven by now that Kid was anything but a common crook.

"Why do you always have to take his side? He's a pain and I wish he would simply disappear!"

Of course, he could expect nothing less from Nakamori Aoko, daughter of the inspector responsible for catching the mysterious phantom thief. It was her moral duty to be first to her father; that much he understood. She was forgiven as well, for she did not know Kid's true identity. But understanding did not prevent him from poking at this bed of coals, nor from stirring them up into a raging fury. In fact, they were the reasons which fueled the words he only half meant whenever they discussed this.

"You only hate him cause your father's too slow to keep up with him." Like that, words exactly like those. "He's being led around by the nose and couldn't even catch the hand holding the ring," Kaito pointed out in apparent tones of disinterested casualness.

"Kaito's so mean! That's not true..." The sniff took him off guard, and he quickly dismissed his next barbs before they could hurt at a time when it really would sting.

"Aoko..." Kaito looked up then at the face of the strongest girl he ever knew. There was strength in being the only daughter of a busy single parent, and inspector Nakamori had been busy, no one would know that better than Kaito himself. Aoko had grown up nearly fatherless but with a father, spending more time alone with herself than a child should when there is a concerned family.

She hated Kaitou Kid for a reason... It was not because he was a thief, not even because he stole priceless treasures or made the police look incompetent. The others who hated the kaitou used those reasons and more. All of these reasons were equally valid; however, Aoko was alone in the world in that she had another, more personal reason to hate the famed thief.. She hated Kid because the entity stole away her father. It was not even confined to the recent year when Kaito took over the legacy, but started even a decade ago.

He did not dodge the next swing that came his way, but made a show of falling back into several shrubs as it connected to his shoulder.

"Kaito! Don't insult my father again!!" Aoko stood over him, legs planted firmly in the ground and glaring down at him like an angel of wrath. The brown leather bag that had hit him dangled loosely from one of the fists digging into her hips.

Who was it that once told him that the most talented in the circus were the clowns? Not the daring trapeze artists who flung their lives over safety nets, but the people with the painted faces who acted stupid to diffuse any situation.

"...You're wearing pink today..."

"What...?" When Aoko realized that the fallen Kaito was taking advantage of his lowered position to stare up her skirt, she screamed and attempted to pull her uniform down lower. Her other troubles were momentarily forgotten as her concentrations on hitting the miraculously recovered pervert. "Get back here, don't you dare to run!"

Yes.... it was his father who told him those words. His father who first took Aoko's away from her. Unnoticed by Aoko, the laughing and jumping Kaito stuck a hand into his pocket and crumpled up Kid's next heist notice. Kuroba Toichi was not here for Kaito anymore, like Nakamori Ginzo wasn't there for Aoko, but the difference was the magician was dead and the inspector wasn't. He could still return home.


	9. Whisper Gently to Me

**AN: **I promise the next one will be longer. I'm still trying to get my fic writing muse back... I have plunnies a plenty but they are refusing to be placed into words. Maybe if I come up with another angsty bit, it'll help.

**Whisper Gently to Me**  
#81 - Close Your Eyes  
Word Count: 266

"Kaito..."

"Yes, Aoko?" The young magician stiffled a yawn behind his hand. But like the infectious things they were, once he started, a second one came.

"You're not Kaitou Kid, right, Kaito?"

Third yawn abandoned in half exhale, the sleepy boy blinked instantly awake. That was a bitter cure for the yawning disease. "Of course not, baka. What gave you such an idea?"

"Bakaito." The answer came so reflexively that he wondered if she was even truly awake to process the words. She continued, "I just-"

He interrupted before it spiraled out of control. "I was at Tropical Land with you, remember?" His one fail safe excuse, a safety net he never intended to have but couldn't create a better one if he tried. She needed that assurance though, so he used it now.

"Right..."

To his ears, she didn't sound so sure. Were gaps appearing in his safety net, the thrads sliced apart by her sleeping reasoning? Another misdirection was required. "You just have us confused because we're both magicians," he suggested gently.

"Maybe..." Despite her tired sounding reservations, she seemed to accept that.

Kaito released a soft sigh of relief and shifted his seat. "Go back to sleep, Aoko. You won't have any more nightmares now."

"How did you... ?" Her question trailed off to a tired, premature end and, despite himself, he found a smile surfacing.

"Dork, you called me in the middle of the night."

"Oh, right. Good night then, Kaito."

"Good night, Aoko."

Kaito pressed the end call button and dropped his phone back inside his jacket's interior pocket. It was time for him to fly home, he still had school in the morning.


End file.
